Canelo Alvarez easily won the Mexican Independence Day weekend with a unanimous decision (117-110, 118-109, 118-109) victory over Edgar Berlanga on Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
While Berlanga was able to maintain his momentum throughout the fight, he was completely outclassed in every aspect of the sport. Fortunately, the decision was indisputable. No one could make an argument for Berlanga to keep the fight close. One could say Canelo won every round, and that might be a stronger argument.
The key to Canelo’s victory was his superior hand speed and boxing acumen. The Mexican icon consistently found room for the jab and some well-chosen hooks from both sides. A hook was what led to the only knockdown of the fight. Alvarez dropped Berlanga in the third round, but to the Puerto Rican’s credit, he got up, continued to shoot, and fought hard for 12 rounds.
A quick, hard left hook dropped Berlanga in the third round.
Berlanga was unhurt and quickly got back up. He didn’t run away after being knocked down. Instead, he stayed in the pocket more and took the punishment.
After the fight, Terence Crawford, who has made it clear that he wants to fight Canelo, took an X with this message.